The C tag on SO becomes an interesting place at the start of every semester. We get hordes of beginner questions that are asked just differently enough to not be duplicates.

I find myself digging through my old answers to find the example code snippets I used before, then re-cycle them into something that fits the exact problem being described. Then I link to my original answer.

Still, I've effectively done what Jeff likes us to avoid, duplicating content. My snippet is basically the same, it's showing someone how to operate on a pointer, illustrating precedence or something else very simple. Yet, the question remains open, was re-opened .. and technically 'deserves' an answer, even if it's basically the same darn answer I've given three times.

It makes me think that, if you could recycle an answer with little effort, the question at hand should probably be closed or merged. But then we're also told that a little duplication is a good thing.

Why sell only one book when you can sell thousands copies? ;-) Maybe a better system would be explicitly answer recycling where you could reference your previous answer you though answer the new question too.
– user2567Jan 5 '11 at 11:12